The Centre has announced the establishment of 31 GST appellate tribunal benches across the country.

This move aims to facilitate the swift resolution of disputes related to Goods and Services Tax (GST) between the government and businesses, as well as between the central and state governments.

Experts believe that this step will help alleviate the burden on high courts. As per the the Union Finance Ministry's order, Uttar Pradesh will have three benches, while Karnataka and Rajasthan will have two each, and one will be designated for the northeastern states.

It is expected that these tribunals will become operational within three to four months, taking into account the necessary infrastructure setup and appointments.

According to a Livemint report, Shashi Mathews, a partner at the law firm INDUSLAW, highlighted the advantages of constituting multiple benches of the tribunals at the state level under the GST laws.

This approach, in contrast to the previous nine benches of the Customs Excise and Service Tax Tribunal (CESTAT), will be beneficial for assesse. They can now anticipate that their appeals will be resolved locally, as per Matthews.

The absence of these tribunals meant that businesses had to approach high courts, which often resulted in lengthy and costly proceedings.

'In the absence of these tribunals, businesses had to approach the high courts, which, in general, proved to be a long drawn process and costly affair, while also adding pressure on already overburdened high courts," Chandrajit Banerjee, director general of CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) was quoted as saying in the Livemint report.

Banerjee believes that expediting the resolution of cases by tribunals will have a positive impact on business sentiments and ease of doing business in the country.

Rajat Mohan, a senior partner at accounting firm AMRG & Associates, expressed satisfaction with the inclusion of a GST tribunal for the "seven sister states" i.e. Northeastern states in the first phase.

"The next step would be to find acceptable places for tribunals, nominate qualified members, and provide the necessary infrastructure and resources," said Rajat Mohan, Livemint reported.

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